Signalling fault near Peterborough causes major rail disruption

Travellers are facing major rail disruption because of a signalling fault at Peterborough this morning (August 10).

A fault with the signalling system between Peterborough and Huntingdon is causing major disruption to train journeys between Peterborough and London.

Trains may be delayed by up to 40 minutes, cancelled or revised.

A statement on Great Northern Rail’s website said:

“Please allow extra time to reach your destination this morning as your journey may be cancelled, delayed by up to 40 minutes or possibly start / terminate at Huntingdon station.

“Due to the scale of this incident, we recommend that if you’re travelling towards Peterborough, you may wish to delay your journey if possible

“Great Northern and Thameslink are in the process of arranging rail replacement buses to run as a frequent shuttle service between the following stations every 10-20 minutes. So far, four buses are running between Peterborough and Huntingdon. Please speak to station staff for directions to the pick up and drop off point.

Northbound services from Horsham will operate a reduced service, and terminate at Finsbury Park. Southbound Peterborough services will also run a reduced service and terminate at London Kings Cross.

Where possible, some Southern services will call additionally at all stops between Horsham and Three Bridges / Horley to maintain connections calling at:

Horsham

Littlehaven

Ifield

Crawley

Three Bridges

Horley

“A likely cause for the fault has been identified, this will require testing beforehand in order to effect a definitive fix. We are advised this testing should be done by 09:00, and we’ll keep you updated here with any developments.

“In addition to this, your Thameslink and Great Northern tickets are valid for travel with the following at no additional cost:

East Midlands Trains between Peterborough and Ely, where you can change for Great Northern services towards London Kings Cross

London North Eastern Railway services between Peterborough, Cambridge and London Kings Cross

Greater Anglia services between Ely and London Liverpool Street

London Underground between London Kings Cross and London Liverpool Street

“If you’re concerned about your journey today, it is recommend that you check your train times before you travel. You can do this by visiting the journey planner or by referring to information screens at the station.

“Advice for London North Eastern customers:

To help you complete your journey, you may use your tickets on TransPennine Express services between York and Leeds.

Customers with tickets for cancelled services may travel on the train before or after the service specified in the original booking.

Additional information:

“A technical fault with the signalling system is affecting trains arriving and departing from Peterborough.

“In this particular situation the fault has been confirmed as a ‘Track Circuit Failure’. This means the signalling system is unable to automatically verify if the next section of track past the affected signal is clear.

“The rail network is designed so that if a signal stops working, trains will stop before they reach it. Whilst this issue is ongoing, train crews will stop at the affected signal and contact the signalling centre to confirm their location, which at this point the signaller will verbally authorise the driver to continue towards the next signal.

“This process will be repeated 6 times as this incident is affecting 6 signals. Each time a train must stop and contact the signaller, a delay of up to 7 minutes per signal will be applied to your journey.

“Due to the complexity of this fault, Network Rail have decided it is necessary to reduce the number of trains operating on this line. Technicians are still on site working to resolve the fault as quickly as they can, and progress updates will be provided to you once received.

“Check before you travel:

You can check your journey using the National Rail Enquiries real-time Journey Planner

Twitter:

If you would like to follow this incident on Twitter, please use #Peterborough

Compensation: You may be entitled to compensation if you experience a delay in completing your journey today. Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.